Who are we?

MyPlayers is the official organisation of the professional rugby players in South Africa. The organisation is 100% owned by the players as they play a key leadership role in determining the general strategy and vision. This is done through the various decision-making structures on which they serve. The organisation currently represents all the professional rugby players in South Africa.

Our Mission

We provide player-driven solutions to improve the lives of our members.

Our Proposition

We believe rugby is more than just a game.

Our Values

Respect

Accommodating

Integrity

Loyalty

What We Do

Our Divisions

Commercial

Industrial (SARPA)

Player Affairs

Financial Services

Player Career Development

Brand and Communications

Players Charity

Player Benefits

The team behind the players

MyPlayers Key Individuals

Faffa Knoetze

Chairman

About Faffa Knoetze

Faffa Knoetze is an actuary at Remgro Limited which he joined at the end of 2013. In his role at Remgro, Faffa focuses on the company’s interests in the insurance, banking and sport industries. Knoetze is also a non-executive director on the boards of a number of companies, like First Rand Limited and the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport (SAS).

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Eugene Henning

Managing Director

About Eugene Henning

Eugene is an admitted attorney and obtained his B.Com, L.L.B and MBA degrees from Stellenbosch University. He practiced as an attorney where after he worked as a Legal Advisor for Bidvest in the UK. Upon his return to South Africa, he worked as a Legal Advisor in the financial services industry.

Eugene joined the MyPlayers board in 2010 and is responsible to oversee and direct all MyPlayers operations, as well as manage the collective intellectual property rights of the South African professional rugby players.

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Mandisi Tshonti

General Manager: Player Affairs

About Mandisi Tshonti

Mandisi holds a BA degree in Human Movement Studies and an Honours degree in Social Development through the University of the Western Cape (UWC).

He was employed at UWC for a period of 8 years, a period where he also fulfilled other numerous positions, namely as the strength and conditioning coach at UWC Rugby Club and sports administrator at UWC Sports.

Mandisi is responsible for the Player Affairs division at MyPlayers

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David de Villiers

General Manager: Financial Services

About David de Villiers

David is a graduate from Stellenbosch University and Unisa with a B.Acc degree and and B.Compt honours degree. He is currently studying towards a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants qualification.

He has more than three years experience in compiling financial statements, delivering tax advice and financial audits. He also played professional rugby for the Boland Cavaliers, Cheetahs and Lions before retiring in 2011. David heads up the Financial Services Division at MyPlayers.

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Yoland Morf

Legal, Compliance & Governance

About Yoland Morf

Yoland is an admitted attorney and conveyancer. She obtained her LLB degree at the University of Pretoria. She previously worked at Nissan South Africa as their Legal Advisor, where she gained extensive experience in all aspects of law specifically corporate and commercial law.

As the Legal, Compliance and Governance manager at MyPlayers, Yoland’s role is to ensure the prudent management of legal risk across the organisation.

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Raynique Meyer

Communication Manager

About Raynique Meyer

Raynique recently graduated at the NWU-Pukke specializing in B. Hons Journalism and also completed a B.A Degree in Communication. During her studies she freelanced for Varsity Cup, Varsity Sports, Netwerk24 & OFM covering numerous tournaments and sporting disciplines. She joined the MyPlayers team in 2018.

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Helga Esau

Finance Manager

About Helga Esau

Helga is a graduate from Stellenbosch University, where she obtained her B.Comm degree in Financial Accounting.

She is a registered member of the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA).

She previously worked at Bernard Shaw Ouditeure Inc, where she completed her SAIPA articles, before joining MyPlayers as a financial manager in 2015.

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Welmarie van der Spuy

Senior Financial Manager

About Welmarie van der Spuy

A qualified Chartered Accountant, Welmarie joined MyPlayers in the role of Senior Financial Manager.

She spent the last five years of her career as a Financial Manager at the popular retail giant Fruit and Veg City in the Western Cape.

Welmarie previously worked at PKF and Ernest Young, where she was a Trainee Accountant and Senior Internal Auditor respectively.

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Elma Smit

Marketing and Events

About Elma Smit

Elma obtained her BA Law degree from the University of Stellenbosch, before completing an honours in Journalism at Wits University.

She has plenty of broadcasting experience in television and radio, having worked with music channel MK, SuperSport, kykNET and 5FM. She also did digital news work with Netwerk24.

Beyond her role of Marketing and Events Manager for MyPlayers, she currently works as a weekly profile writer for Afrikaans daily newspaper Beeld and as the anchor of SuperSport’s weekly rugby magazine show TMO.

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Isma-eel Dollie

Player Relations

About Isma-eel Dollie

Former Western Province, Boland and Baby Boks flyhalf Isma-eel Dollie is part of the team as a National Player Relationship Manager.

A former SACS pupil, Isma-eel holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. He was previously employed at Wynberg Boys’ Junior as the school’s Marketing Manager.

In his role at MyPlayers, Isma-eel will be responsible for day-to-day player enquiries and will work closely with player representatives at the provincial unions. He will also play a key role engaging with players regularly as well as conducting team visits.